


Butterflies

by sunwoo



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 16:44:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18921025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunwoo/pseuds/sunwoo
Summary: Younghoon can't help but feel butterflies everytime he sees Changmin at the convenience store, and that doesn’t change even when he brings Chanhee to meet Changmin.





	Butterflies

“Where is it… where is it… seriously, where is it…” Younghoon quietly repeated those words over and over again as he searched up and down the aisle.

“Are you looking for something?” A voice asked, and Younghoon looked up to see a boy who seemed to be around his age.

Younghoon embarrassingly stood up straight from his previous crouched down position to address him. “Do you work here?”

The boy shook his head with a smile. “No. You just seem like you’re looking for something important, so I was curious. I’m Changmin, by the way.”

“I’m Younghoon,” he replied. “I’m just looking for Sprite.”

Changmin nodded his head in understanding. “They might’ve moved them. The merchandise here seems rearranged, no?”

Younghoon took a moment to look around and soon realized that Changmin was right. The chips were where the candy bars used to be, and the candy bars were where the fountain drink machine used to be.

“I didn’t even notice…” Younghoon said. He then hummed and walked into the next aisle, with Changmin following him. “Oh, here it is!” He took two bottles of it and turned to Changmin. “Thank you so much, Changmin. I’d probably still be looking for these in the other aisle if it weren’t for you.”

Changmin smiled brightly, and Younghoon felt butterflies in his stomach. He felt like Changmin’s smile was something so beautiful that he wanted to see it everyday, again and again while they talked about nonsense.

“It’s nothing! I’m happy to help!” Changmin said. He waved at Younghoon before turning around and walking away.

As Younghoon made his way to the cashier to pay for the soda, he glanced into each aisle, hoping to see Changmin and his pretty orange hair and his beautiful breathtaking smile one more time, but to his disappointment, Changmin was nowhere to be seen.

“Weird… I didn’t even hear the doorbell ring when he left.”

* * *

Younghoon dropped the paper bag on the ground of Chanhee’s bedroom before jumping on the bed, earning a scream from his best friend.

“Younghoon hyung! Don’t do that! Oh, my God!” Chanhee yelled, repeatedly hitting Younghoon’s arm and chest.

Younghoon only laughed at his friend’s antics, reaching over for the bag once Chanhee finished. “I brought drinks, and yes, they’re non-alcoholic.”

“You’re no fun.” Chanhee rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the bottles from Younghoon’s hand. “I do like Sprite, though, so you’re safe from further attacks.”

“I know you like Sprite. That’s why I bought it in the first place, idiot, but if it weren’t for Changmin, I wouldn’t have been able to find them.”

Chanhee’s eyes widened at the mention of Changmin’s name, and he quickly gulped down the drink before almost interrupting Younghoon. “Who’s Changmin?”

Younghoon shrugged his shoulders. “This boy at the convenience store. He’s really cute, but I barely talked to him, and I didn’t even get his number.”

Younghoon groaned and fell back onto the bed as Chanhee only watched him from beside him. “You’re a disappointment, hyung. Who in this day and age doesn’t ask for a phone number when they meet a cute boy?”

“Me.”

* * *

The next day, Younghoon returned to that same convenience store in hopes of seeing Changmin again.

He paced through each aisle, pretending to be shopping for random items of food, as he increasingly grew worried that he would never see Changmin again. How could he have let such an opportunity slip from his fingers like that?

Just when he was about to leave the shop, he came face to face with the boy he was hoping to see.

“Hi, Younghoon! Oh—” Changmin gasped and put his hands around his mouth. “Do I have to call you hyung? I was born in 1998.”

Younghoon smiled at the cute boy in front of him. “In that case, yes, I’m your hyung.”

“Okay, Younghoon hyung,” Changmin giggled, and Younghoon felt those same butterflies from the day before. “What brings you here today?”

“Oh, I was looking for chips, but I’m not sure I know where they are anymore,” Younghoon said, and Changmin gasped again, grabbing Younghoon’s arm to drag him over to the correct aisle.

Of course, Younghoon remembered where the chips were from yesterday, but he couldn’t help but act dumb to make Changmin happy for helping again.

“They’re right here! You should really try to remember, hyung. If you come here often, you shouldn’t be lost,” Changmin said, and Younghoon nodded.

“Oh, Changmin, I meant to ask you for your phone number yesterday,” Younghoon said, already pulling out his phone, but Changmin shook his head.

“It’s okay, hyung, you don’t need it.”

Younghoon looked at the younger boy in confusion. “You don’t want to text me? What if I don’t come back here or what if you don’t come back here? How will we talk?”

Changmin smiled, the familiar butterflies in Younghoon’s stomach reappearing. “We will, hyung.”

* * *

Younghoon grabbed a handful of potato chips, eating them one by one. “I don’t even know what that meant! Why didn’t he want to give me his number?”

Chanhee grabbed the bag of chips, and with a mouth full of food, managed to reply with “maybe he doesn’t have one.”

Younghoon shook his head. “But I wouldn’t have judged him, and at least if he told me he didn’t have a phone, I wouldn’t be confused.”

“Boys are confusing, hyung. Just accept it.”

“But…” Younghoon wrapped himself with the blanket on Chanhee’s bed. “I just don’t get it. He’s just so cute and pretty and wonderful and cute and beautiful and amazing and cute and—”

“Hyung! You already said ‘cute’ three times!” Chanhee yelled, and Younghoon stared at the wall.

“Oh, did I? I didn’t even notice.”

* * *

“What are you here to buy today, hyung?” Changmin asked brightly as soon as Younghoon walked in.

Younghoon laughed. “You sound like you work here. You sure you aren’t one of the workers trying to make sure I don’t steal?”

Changmin shook his head. “You just come here everyday, so I come here, too!”

Younghoon smiled at him as he said this. Changmin made him feel like he was needed, wanted, liked. Younghoon didn’t have many people in his life like that. In fact, he didn’t have any friends besides Chanhee and that guy named Jaehyun (who he doesn’t consider much of a friend anyways). With Changmin, it’s almost like he’s not alone anymore.

“What are you thinking about?” Changmin asked, and Younghoon shook his head.

“Oh, nothing. Just stuff.”

“Stuff?” Changmin asked, tilting his head to the side as he did. Those damn butterflies appeared again, and Younghoon began to think that they’d never leave. “What kind of stuff? Like what to buy today?”

Younghoon nodded. “It’s like you read my mind, Changmin. I’m not quite sure what to buy, though…”

“I suggest these!” Changmin pointed to the rack of chocolate bars behind him. “I hear they’re really good!”

“You’ve never had them?” Younghoon asked. “Me neither, but I should try new things, right?”

Changmin nodded happily. “Yes, you should! Trying new things is fun!”

* * *

Chanhee looked at Younghoon as soon as he walked into his room, glancing at the bag of items in his hand. “Let me guess, you didn’t get his number again.”

“You’re a really good guesser,” Younghoon said as he sat down on the bed, a routine that is too familiar to him. “You should use those guessing skills for those board games where you have to… like, guess.”

“How could you not get his number? Again!” Chanhee grabbed Younghoon’s waist and pulled him towards the center of the bed. “How do you keep messing up?”

“I’m not messing up, I’m just not asking anymore. If he didn’t give me his number the first time, then he probably won’t give it to me now, either.”

Chanhee started to unwrap one of the chocolate bars when he suddenly stopped to speak. “You’ll never get a boyfriend at this rate.”

As soon as Younghoon heard the word ‘boyfriend,’ he freezed. Changmin as his boyfriend? Changmin, the cutest boy in the whole entire world to him, as his boyfriend?

“A boyfriend?” Younghoon managed to ask.

“That’s why you think he’s cute, right? And why you keep on going over there to talk to him? It’s obviously not to buy more junk food, although I’m not complaining, but you like him, don’t you?”

Younghoon was silent for the next few moments. He hadn’t thought about it so deeply like that before.

He liked Changmin.

* * *

“What’s on today’s shopping list, hyung?”

“Nothing, actually,” Younghoon said. He put his hand on Changmin’s shoulder and nodded his head in the direction of the back of the convenience store. “Can we go talk? Over there?”

“Why? There’s no one here,” Changmin said, looking around the store, and Younghoon followed his gaze, noticing that they were the only two people in the entire store.

“Okay,” Younghoon said. He didn’t move his hand, which was still on Changmin’s shoulder, and he looked at the ground for a couple seconds before beginning to talk. “Changmin, I’m just going to be direct, and tell you that I like you. I really, really like you.”

Changmin didn’t speak, and instead simply smiled at him.

“And…” Younghoon looked at Changmin’s eyes again. “I want you to meet my best friend, Chanhee, tomorrow! I’ve been telling him about you, and I think he’d like to meet you! Is that okay?”

Again, Changmin didn’t speak, but he nodded, which made Younghoon smile back at the boy who he had just confessed to.

* * *

“So I’m going to meet your crush at the convenience store? Seriously? Couldn’t you have made the meet-up at the park or mall or literally anywhere but the convenience store?” Chanhee asked, and Younghoon threw the television remote at him.

“The convenience store is like… Changmin and I’s special place. It’s where we met and where he always see each other, so take it or leave it, Chanhee.”

It was also the place where Younghoon realized he wasn’t alone anymore. Even with Chanhee, he felt like he didn’t have someone who really wanted his company and wanted to talk to him everyday, but Changmin changed that. Younghoon felt much more happier with Changmin in his life, despite the fact that Chanhee was right that a convenience store is a strange place to meet up.

“First of all, that hurt, and second, fine,” Chanhee rolled his eyes, but Younghoon knew he wasn’t actually annoyed, “but I can’t promise my outfit will be appropriate for a place where old people buy medicine and little kids shoplift lighters and candy.”

“Just wear anything, Chanhee. You could show up in shorts and flip flops, and it wouldn’t matter,” Younghoon said. He began to flip through all the channels on the television, searching for something interesting to watch. “I just really want you to meet him. I really like him, you know.”

“Yeah, I can tell. He better be worth it, hyung.”

“Trust me. He is.”

* * *

As soon as Younghoon brought Chanhee to the door of the store, he turned to Chanhee. “Don’t embarrass me in front of Changmin, okay?”

“Why would you think I’d even do that?” Chanhee asked, opening the door and holding it open for his hyung.

Younghoon stepped inside, his eyes immediately searching for the bright-haired boy in the store. When he found him, he motioned for Chanhee to follow him and walked over to Changmin.

“Changmin! Changmin, I brought my friend, Chanhee, to see you!” Younghoon smiled, and Changmin smiled back at both Younghoon and Chanhee.

“Oh, is he the friend you talk to me about?” Changmin asked, and Younghoon nodded. Younghoon was about to respond when he was interrupted by Chanhee’s harsh words.

“Why are you talking to yourself?”

Younghoon’s head snapped in Chanhee’s direction. He looked back at Changmin’s face to check if he’s showing any signs of being hurt by Chanhee’s words. Turning back to Chanhee, Younghoon asked, “what? He’s right here, Chanhee. You should apologize to Changmin. You really can’t joke around like that with people you haven’t met yet.”

Chanhee didn’t seem amused, at all. “Younghoon, when you’re done playing around, bring your crush to the candy aisle. That’s where I’ll be.”

Younghoon watched Chanhee walk away, and he looked at Changmin again. “I’m sorry about him. I think he’s just jealous. He doesn’t have a boyfriend or just someone who likes him, so it must’ve gotten to him all of a sudden.”

Changmin didn’t say anything.

“Are you okay? You don’t have to talk to him today if you don’t—“ His words were cut off when a much older woman ran into Changmin, and Younghoon yelled, “Hey! Watch—“ and when Younghoon expected Changmin to be pushed towards the side, he wasn’t.

The woman passed right through him as if he wasn’t even a physical being.

She looked right past Changmin, to Younghoon, as if he was crazy.

Younghoon looked at Changmin with tears in his eyes. “Oh, my God,” he whispered, his voice so quiet he knew not even the woman (who was now across the aisle) heard him.

Changmin was smiling at him.

Changmin’s smile looked as beautiful as it always did. Every time Younghoon saw him smile, he felt butterflies in his stomach, and right now was no different.

Younghoon wanted Changmin to say something. He wanted him to start laughing and tell him it was a dream.

But he didn’t.

Changmin disappeared before Younghoon’s eyes like dust blown away by the wind.

Younghoon was alone.


End file.
